Polar Opposites
by celebi82
Summary: 18-year-old Ellie Seeley is suddenly moving to Japan with her father and stepmother. What will she discover there? Friends? Betrayal? Maybe even death? (AR)
1. Prologue: Lifebooks

**Polar Opposites**

**Prologue: Lifebooks**

_Every life is like a huge storybook. Some are short, some are very long. Each book makes a whole new story for one person. _

_Some stories are exciting. Full of skydiving, competing in the Olympics, falling in love, bungee jumping, rollercoasters, and living happily ever after. Some are horribly sad and dangerous, filled with terror, abuse, and hate. Some are utterly boring. Sitting around on computers and electronics and eating all day, making nothing of the book. And yet, every story has to go on. At least, until it ends. _

_They can all end in different ways. Some end brutally at a short amount of pages. Some end peacefully after a long existence, their covers' worn out, a few pages torn and crumpled from age. _

_Each storybook has a title. Each title is a name. Every book is blank at the beginning of its being, but is soon colored with life and different things. Some are decorated with skateboards and bikes. Some are decorated with pink flowers and horses. Some are decorated with dogs and cats. Some are decorated with musical instruments and paintbrushes. But some are splattered with red blood splotches, put there by another life. It all depends on personality and circumstances. _

_All the lifebooks are stacked high and low in a large sphere. In the sphere, there is their creator and author, God. He is constantly destroying lifebooks and creating new ones, as is the circle of life. He takes personality and appearance pages of female books and male books and creates another book with them. _

_What if we are all just in a story, our lives being controlled by a single pencil? What if our whole lives are already laid out in front of us on a manuscript? Maybe we are all just words that others living beings are reading. Or maybe this is all a dream. Maybe our whole life is just a dream and soon we will wake up, only a small baby. Maybe you're not even a human. Maybe you're a dog. Or a cat. Or maybe even an alien. Maybe you're nothing at all. You could be a single raindrop. Or a wisp of air. You don't know. Then again, nobody really does. We can only wonder. _

…

My uncle tells me that story a lot. I don't think he likes me very much. I'm not sure what it means, but I'm especially confused about this next part.

…

_One day, God decided that he wanted to have a banquet. He invited his 15 favorite animal spirits, which were the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Ram, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog, the Boar, the Cat, and the Twin Spirits of the Wolves. God told them that the banquet would be held tomorrow and to not be late. The mischievous Rat went to see the Cat and told him that the banquet would actually be held the day after tomorrow. The Cat thanked him and happily slept in the next morning as the Rat rode on the Ox to the banquet. _

_The Wolves had attended, but looked as if they were doing so reluctantly, and looked as if they wanted to leave God's presence. They did not like to be ruled or controlled by anyone. They may be happy, carefree beings, but they are independent. When God happily declared that he would gift all 14 animals with immortality, the Wolves approached him. _

"_We are sorry, sir, but we cannot accept. We do not want immortality. We want to die when the time comes. We must leave now. Goodbye," they said in unison and started to walk away._

"_NO!" God thundered. He looked around at all fourteen animals with fury. "You shall all stay by me in an eternal banquet! Even the Wolves and Cat! But you three shall be outcast, hated!" And with that God gave immortality to all of them and put all 15 animal spirits into a different lifebook with another human life. Then, God took part of his spirit and put it into another new human's lifebook. _

"_This will be the first person to rule over the Zodiac and outcast the Wolf and Cat at my command," he boomed, now giving his twelve animals a name. "The banquet will never cease!"_

…

What is that story supposed to mean? I looked it up and it's based off some story about the Chinese Zodiac that they tell in Japan. I mean, I know Grandpa and my uncle are from Japan, but I was born here, in Britain! And I don't even have a lot of Japanese traits! I have slanted eyes, but that's pretty much all! Plus, I'm as pale as a ghost! Don't people from Asia have tanned, olive skin? I'm not dark-haired either; in fact, my hair is white-blonde. So what's the point of telling me this story?

My grandpa is always whispering things in my ear when no one is watching, like, "You're special, Ellie," or, "You'll understand someday." I'm not sure what he means, but he seems so kind and sympathetic when he says it. I don't understand, just like he says.

My name's Ellie Seeley and frankly, I don't know what to believe anymore.


	2. Betrayal

**Polar Opposites**

**A/N: **Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to a… *drumroll* FANFICTION! *crickets* Oh, yeah, guess you already knew that. Oh well. Anyway, wonderful me is here to present you with a description of Ellie! You're welcome! (Special Shoutout: Ellie is short. Just like you Hannah. Yep, I said it. ON THE INTERNET.)

Name: Ellie Seeley

Age: 18

Hair: Straight white blonde and it goes down to her waist.

Eyes: Yellow wolf-like eyes

Height: 5 feet, 1 inch (yes, I love to agonize my poor OCs with shortness! Mwhahahaha!)

Personality: She's bubbly and happy like Momiji and Tohru, but isn't as naïve. She can be sarcastic when she wants and can get extremely angry as well, but she usually doesn't unless you betray her trust, which is often given willingly. She is often childish and playful like Momiji as well. She is very straightforward and sociable and can walk up to almost anyone and introduce herself and just ask to be their friend. She is actually secretly very mischievous underneath her sweetness. Oh yes, also remember that when she speaks, it's of course in a British accent! And luckily for her, she's good at learning languages…

Other: By the way, she's a musical genius. She plays guitar, piano, violin, viola, clarinet, English horn, trumpet, drums, keyboard, ryuteki (literally "dragon flute". Look it up), and not to mention her voice. Told you that she was a musical genius. In fact, I might've missed some instruments. I don't know. And regardless of her happy nature, she is not a morning person at all. In fact, she's a morning demon. Like Yuki. :D

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket or any of its characters and I sadly never will. I do however own my eloquent Ellie! :D

**Chapter 1: Betrayal**

**Ellie's point of view**

"Ellie!" I heard my step-mom calling for me from downstairs. I jumped up and ran out my door before she screamed for me again. Usually, if she had to call for me more than once, she'd get irritated. I ran down the stairs two at a time and immediately came face to face with her agitated expression. Nevertheless, I beamed at her.

"Yes, Patricia?" I asked. She glared at me.

"What took you so damn long? Never mind, go pack up your things. We're moving," she stated bluntly. My face faltered.

"W-What? What do mean we're moving?" I asked, stunned. She huffed in annoyance.

"I mean we're moving. Now hurry up, we leave in a week."

"But where are we moving to?" I asked quickly.

"Japan. Your father got promoted and he's being transferred there. So, we're going too. Got it? Good. I can't wait for a shopping spree in Tokyo!" she squealed and ran away in her pink and sparkly clothes, probably to find my dad.

"Japan…" I muttered in amazement to myself but then perked up, a bright smile on my face. "It's alright! It'll be fun! I've always wanted to go there! Plus, I'll get to go to a Japanese school!" I silently thanked the heavens for my gift with languages. I knew English (of course), French, German, and some Japanese. If I started now, I'd know a good amount of the language by the time we had to go. But first, time to pack!

As I packed, I thought about my only friend I'd be leaving here in Britain. "I'll miss her so much," I said to myself, a sad smile on my face that instantly turned into a happier one at brighter thoughts. "But we'll write and e-mail each other! I can send her cool things from Japan too! It'll be really awesome, I just know it!" I assured myself with a confident nod and proceeded to pack, reminding myself to call my friend later and walking downstairs to get all the boxes I'd need. Of course, I needed many extra boxes for all my instruments.

…

"Descending into Tokyo, Japan. Thank you for flying London Airlines. Have a nice day," the intercom sputtered out. I was practically bouncing in my seat. My step mother gave me an irritated look. I stopped, not wanting to make her angry with me. I don't think she likes me and I don't like her all that much either, but I try to be nice, you know? My dad, however, seemed happy with my excitement.

"You ready for school in Japan, Ellie?" he asked with a happy smile on his face. He told me before that I got my smile from him. I beamed at him and nodded vigorously.

"Say something in Japanese for me," he said, leaning to me. My eyes widened happily and I said, "Atashi wa ureshii!"

"What does that mean?" he asked. "It means 'I'm happy!'" I answered him. He nodded with a smile and said, "I'm glad." (A/N: Please note that when she talks to her dad and Patricia, it's normally in English, but when she goes to school, she'll be speaking in Japanese.)

The plane landed and we all got off and got our luggage (excessive, in Patricia's case). We got a cab and I found out that we were going to live at a hotel. Sigh, I suppose that was to be expected. Oh well, it'll be fun!

Since people always mistake me for someone younger, maybe I can run through the halls and the elevators without getting weird looks! I can't wait for school tomorrow either! I have to study up on my necessary phrases so I can make friends!

…The next day…

"Bye, Daddy!" I yelled from the kitchen, all ready for school.

"Bye, sweetie! Patricia will be picking you up today, okay?" he shouted from some other room. "Okay!" I called back cheerfully and skipped out the door, taking the stairs downstairs.

Daddy had wanted to drive me to school, but I had insisted on walking, and reasoned with him by being driven home. I skipped the whole way to school and giggled at the thought of people probably mistaking me, a girl in her last year of high school, for a middle school kid, or maybe even an elementary kid! It was always funny when people said that and their shocked faces are hysterical after I tell them how old I am.

The school had finally come into view! It looks really nice! The best thing is that it's not some boarding school like the ones that Patricia usually sends me to. I mean, it wasn't that bad, I got to be around people all the time! But I never got to go anywhere and they always yelled at me for being "childish". I'm not childish, right? Well, maybe a little bit. Plus, I didn't get to see daddy as much. I barely got to see him anyway since Patricia always "needs" him every time I want to spend time with him.

No more bad thoughts about her, Ellie! That's mean! I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked back at the building again and beamed. I skipped happily through the gates. I walked up to first person I saw- a brown haired girl next to two boys with peculiar hair colors. Whoa, orange and purple! Cool!

She wasn't facing me, so I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and looked at me. I beam at her and try out my Japanese.

"Hi there! My name is Ellie Seeley!" I said and bowed, remembering the custom. I saw the girl's face light up like mine. I saw a confused expression on the purple-haired boy and irritated one on the orange-haired one.

"Oh! Hello, my name is Tohru Honda! It's very nice to meet you!" she said, bowing back to me. I grinned at her.

"What the hell are you doing here, kid?" the orange haired kid yelled at me. I turned to him, noticed from the pin on his uniform that he was a second year, and gave him a teasing smile. I pointed at him accusingly.

"Respect your elders, mister!" I yelled back at him. He was stunned for a moment. I grinned and introduced myself to him, even if he heard me from talking to Tohru.

"I'm Ellie Seeley, senior-no, no! I mean, high school third year! Yeah, high school third year! Haha, sorry, still adapting to the language and customs and whatnot. I'd say I'm pretty good after only a week to learn half of it though, right?" I laughed.

"You've only started learning it a week ago?" the purple haired boy asked. I nodded and said, "Well, sort of. I already knew some of it."

"That's impressive. I'm Yuki Sohma, by the way. The irritated looking one is Kyo Sohma." I giggled at his statement as Kyo practically snarled at him.

"Anyway, I'm new here obviously. I came from Britain, if you couldn't recognize the accent!" I laughed. "Who wants to be my tour guide?" I asked excitedly.

"Momiji'd be a great tour guide for you," I heard Kyo mutter. I perked up.

"Ooh! Who's Momiji?" I asked.

"Just a cousin of ours," Yuki replied.

"_Oh, I'll have to make a mental note to find a 'Momiji' later on_," I mumbled to myself in English. I look back up and smile at Tohru.

"Then you'll be my tour guide, Tohru-chan!" I yelled, grabbing her wrist and dragging her away. I cackled as I heard Kyo protesting loudly. He obviously likes her. I wonder about Yuki though. He probably does.

I slowed down when we entered the school building. I looked back at Tohru. I snickered. She looks dizzy.

I straightened up and let go of her wrist. I put a hand on my hip and held up one finger matter-of-factly. "Alright, Tohru-chan, your first assignment is to find this Momiji-chan! 'Kay?" I instructed. She nodded determinedly.

"Good! Lead the way, Tohru-chan!" I shouted, following her as she walked down the hallway.

"Okay, Seeley-san, I think that he might be this way," she said, pointing down the hallway. I stopped dead in my tracks. She looked back at me to see that I had both hands on my face with my mouth wide open. Kind of like the Edvard Munch's _The Scream. _

"Eh?! What's wrong, Seeley-san?" As soon as she said my name, I covered my ears and shrieked, "No! No, call me Ellie-chan! Ellie-chan! Please! My life depends on it!" I yelled in mock-desperation. Daddy says I should be an actor. I peeked up from fake hunched-in-pain position at Tohru's face. She looked shocked. I suppressed a giggle.

"I-I'm so sorry! I'll call you Ellie-chan, o-okay?" she quickly said, nervously watching me. I popped up with a smile on my face.

"Okay!" I said and skipped along down the hallway. I looked back when I noticed that Tohru wasn't following me. I snickered under my breath when I saw she was still standing there, shocked by what had just happened.

"Come on, slowpoke! We have to find this Momiji Kyo was talking about!" I yelled to her. She snapped out of her trance-like state and nodded quickly.

"R-Right! This way!" she said, coming back to my side.

"Hey, Tohru-chan! Wanna be friends?" I asked her bluntly. She looked at me happily.

"Sure!" she said as we approached a classroom.

"Is Momiji in there, Tohru-chan?"

"I think so."

"What does he look like?"

"He has blonde hair, but it's not like your white blonde hair. It's more of a yellow blonde," she explained. I opened the door. Inside, I saw two boys. One had white and black hair. Cool! The other had yellow blonde hair and was wearing a girls' uniform. I think that it looks good on him. He would probably look weird in a boys' uniform. It must be Momiji! I ran up to him.

"Are you Momiji?" I asked him. He nodded happily, taking a lollipop out of his mouth.

"Great! I'm Ellie Seeley! Kyo said that you should be my tour guide! So that's what you're gonna do, 'kay? It'll be super fun!" I said excitedly. Momiji's face lit up.

"Okay!" he shouted and hopped off the desk he was sitting on. We were the exact same height. He was a first year too! I laughed at the thought. I looked towards the white and black haired boy.

"Hey! What's your name? Wanna come with us?" I asked him.

"Hatsuharu. Sure," he said monotonously as he got up and followed me and Momiji as we bounded out the door while Tohru probably went back to Yuki and Kyo.

"Come on, Ellie-chan! I'll show you the whole entire school!" Momiji yelled.

"Okay! Onward, Momiji-chan!" I shouted back. Momiji really did show me the whole school. Every classroom, custodian closet, and staircase. I laughed as we came to a stop near the office.

"Do you need to go to the office to get your schedule, Ellie-chan?" Momiji asked me. I shook my head.

"Nope! My dad got it for me beforehand! See?" I said holding it up for inspection. Momiji peered at it.

"Ah! You're a third year? I didn't know!" Momiji exclaimed.

"Yep, sure am! And I know I'll still have a hard time finding all these classes even after you showed me the WHOLE school," I said and then looked around. "Hey, Momiji, I think we lost Haru-kun." He was about to respond when the bell rang. I looked frantically at my schedule for my first class. Orchestra, yes!

Hey, Momiji wait! I have a great idea! Let's be best friends, 'kay?" I asked him with a big smile. He nodded furiously. "Okay!" he said. "'Kay! See you at lunch, Momiji! Bring the rest of your friends for me!" I said and ran off to my music class.

I ran into the classroom just as the bell rang, huffing from running. "Sorry, Sensei!" I said as I plopped down in my chair with my violin.

"That's alright. You're the new student, correct? Play a piece for us, if you will," he asked and sat back in his chair. I beamed and nodded, getting out some sheet music.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd ask that! Alright, here I go!" I said and put the violin in my neck and under my chin. I took the bow and started playing.

(A/N: www. youtube watch?v=klIFJFHPNk4&feature=related remove the spaces if you didn't know. Anyway, in this video, act like the instrumental background wouldn't be there and act like you only here the violin. I couldn't find one with just violin ): ).

I'm not sure how everyone reacted to my music since I was concentrating on it, but afterwards everyone clapped really loud!

"Very good, Seeley-san!" Sensei exclaimed. I grinned. Yay! Sensei thinks I'm good! Very good!

Once Orchestra was over, I went to 3 more classes until it was finally lunch time. I had Guitar after lunch, so I just decided to bring my guitar to lunch with me.

I walked outside with my guitar slung upside down on my back and looked for Momiji. When I finally spotted him, he was sitting at a picnic table with Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and Hatsuharu. Yes, he did bring all of his friends! I skipped over to them, keeping my guitar steady behind me.

"Hi there, Momiji-chan!" I yelled when I was close enough and waved happily. He waved back and waved me over to the table.

"Hi Ellie-chan! Why do you have a guitar? Oh, can you play?" Momiji asked excitedly once I sat down next to him.

"Yep, sure can! Wanna hear?" I asked. Momiji nodded.

"Oh, yes, play something! Play something!"

"'Kay!" I said and pushed my guitar around so it was in front of me. I put my left fingers on the fret board and grabbed a pic out of my pocket. Then I started playing, mumbling the lyrics under my breath. (A/N: www. youtube watch?v=xz2CSfgBHXg remove the spaces. Sorry, but she is a musical genius and where there are musical geniuses, there are a lot of music links. (; )

I'm not sure, but I think they're impressed! I hope they liked the song I picked! It's the first one I thought of that I have memorized. I stopped playing and Momiji clapped wildly and hugged me.

I steadied myself so I wouldn't damage my guitar and hugged him back. I heard Kyo say "Damn rabbit!" How mean! And then everyone was kind of quiet and tense. I looked around at everyone. They all looked shocked, confused, and kind of scared. I raised an eyebrow and laughed.

I let go of Momiji and waved my hand in front of their faces. Even Hatsuharu looked shocked. "Hello~? Anyone there~?" I laughed. "What are you guys, germaphobics? It's only a hug!" I then proceeded to stand up, put my guitar back behind my back and hug all the other three boys, plus Tohru, who tensed when I touched them, except Tohru.

"See? That wasn't so bad! You're all silly!" I scolded, pointing a finger at all of them. Then the bell rang and I perked up. I waved a hand to them and said, "I'll see you all later, 'kay? Gotta go to guitar!" And with that, I ran off to class, leaving them still shocked behind me. Seriously, what's wrong with them?

**Back with Tohru and everyone (normal POV)**

"H-How could she hug all of you?" Tohru asked what everyone was wondering.

"I don't know, but it's awesome isn't it?" Momiji yelled happily, glad that he didn't transform.

"We should tell Shigure about this," Yuki said calmly, even though he was still shocked.

"I wonder what's so special about her," Haru said more to himself than anyone.

"She's like a copy of Momiji, though! It's sickening, dammit!" Kyo shouted.

"Tohru! Kyo's being mean!" Momiji whined.

"Shut up, ya damn rabbit!"

**Ellie's point of view: After school**

"Hmm, I wonder where Patricia is," I wondered aloud to myself with my guitar slung around my back and violin in hand along with my bag.

"Ellie-chan! Aren't you going home?" I heard Momiji call to me from behind me. I turned around happily waving to him and Hatsuharu.

"Hi Momiji-chan, Haru-chan! Yep, I'm going home. I'm just waiting for my step mom to pick me up, is all! Don't worry!" I shouted to him. I heard a car pull up behind me and turned around to see Patricia waving her hand impatiently for me to hurry up. I turned back around to Momiji and Haru and waved my hand high over my head in goodbye and got in the car.

"Who were they?" she asked, glaring at the boys' forms walking away.

"Some new friends!" I said cheerfully. Patricia rolled her eyes and didn't respond, just drove. As we were about to drive past some woods that were on the way to the hotel, Patricia stopped and got out of the car. I was confused for a minute and then thought that maybe there was something wrong with the engine. But really, I guess I should've known that she would have made me get out and check.

My door opened and I felt Patricia grab my wrist and drag me out. Instinctively, I grabbed both my guitar and violin. She continued dragging me towards the woods and further into it.

"Patricia? What are you doing? Where are we going? I asked, breathless from continually tripping over my feet as she dragged me. She was stronger than she looked! She didn't respond and abruptly stopped. We were in the middle of the woods. I guess it could be defined as the middle of nowhere if you wanted to.

Then she started laughing. No, it was more of a cackle. I was about to say something else – she was scaring me a bit- when she spun around and pushed me to the ground. Again on instinct, I threw my instruments gently to the side so they wouldn't get crushed or broken. I fell on my back and felt Patricia jump on me.

When I looked at her face, it was, for lack of better word, deranged. But it took me longer than it should have to notice that she held a dagger in her hand. Before I could talk some reason into her or just forcefully take the knife from her, which I probably wouldn't have been able to anyway, I felt a seething pain in my right shoulder. I screamed and looked over and saw the dagger and the blood. I felt her yank out the knife roughly. I felt sick. So I did the only rational thing. I flailed my legs around, trying to free myself from her. This only seemed to anger her. Bad move, I guess.

I felt an agonizing pain in my side. I covered the wound once I felt her rise off of me. I felt her kick my head hard. I felt blood seep from my head into my white blonde hair. My eyes were squeezed shut against the throbbing. The darkness, however, did nothing to lessen the pain. I then realized that I had to stay awake. I had to keep the hope that someone would find me.

I snapped my eyes open and noticed that Patricia had left. I assumed that she was too scared to stab my chest and just figured I would bleed to death. I just might. My vision blurred and wavered. I heard a voice and tried to look to the direction of it. It kind of sounded like Yuki, but that's crazy right? Whoever they were, they were yelling my name, I think. It's making my head ache more. I heard running footsteps. Oh. There's no more pain. That feels nice. I feel like I'm floating. It really is a wonderful feeling. Like I'm made of clouds.

Now there's a face over me. I stared blankly back at them. Who is this? They look familiar. Their mouth is moving but I don't hear anything. I don't smell anything. I don't feel anything. And now I don't see anything, not even the familiar face above me. Just blackness. No, not even that. I see nothing. At all.

**A/N: **Don't you just love suspense? I do. Heehee :D


	3. Lies

**Polar Opposites**

**A/N: **Chapter 2 here! Yep, the suspense shall be answered! Maybe… just kidding it will. I know what you're all wondering… Are the guitar and violin okay?! Maybe. :D (Another shoutout to Hannah because she was mad at the short thing…see now aren't regular shoutouts boring, Hannah?)

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket or any of its characters and I sadly never will. I do however own my eloquent Ellie! :D

**Chapter 2: Lies**

**Shigure's point of view:**

I have to admit that I was extremely surprised when Yuki ran through the front door with a bloody girl. Literally.

From her white blonde hair to her short legs, there was blood. It seemed to be most profuse at the head, shoulder, and side from where I was sitting.

"I found her in the woods!" was all Yuki had said before practically throwing her to me and running away to probably find the phone or something to call Hari. I caught her instinctively and shut my eyes, waiting for the transformation. When it didn't come, I opened my eyes and stared shockingly at the girl for a moment until I came back to my senses when I heard Tohru scream from the doorway.

"E-ELLIE-CHAN!?" she screamed. I guess she knows the girl then. "S-Shigure, what h-h-happened?!" Tohru looked towards me for an explanation. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders to say that I didn't know.

"Yuki found her in the forest. Tohru, would you go get me some towels?" I asked, calm on the outside, but really I'm panicking. One, there's a bloody, dying girl in my home. Two, she doesn't make us transform. And three, THERE'S A DYING GIRL IN MY HOUSE! Yes, I know I said it twice. I hope Hari gets here soon.

Tohru raced back into the room not even ten seconds later with an armful of towels. I thanked her quickly and took them from her. I applied pressure to the wounds I could see on this Ellie. I am definitely not an expert like Hari, but I've picked up a few first aid things from him over the years.

By the time, Hari arrived the towels were soaked through with blood, and the girl was getting paler. Hari didn't ask questions but just rushed over with his medical bag in hand. I wonder what Yuki had told him over the phone.

I'm not sure what he did exactly, but he managed to stop the bleeding and after what looked like cleaning the wounds, he gauzed her up. From the gauze, it appeared that she had been injured on her right side, left shoulder, and right temple on her head. Guess I was right, then.

Then, he cleaned the rest of her skin that had blood on it with some towels and antiseptic of his own. He wiped as much blood from her white blonde hair as he could, but it definitely still needed to be washed. He asked me if he could put her on the couch. I nodded. He carefully picked her up, not touching her wounds and holding her away from his chest before setting her down on the couch.

"We can hug her, you know," an upset voice said. I turned around and saw Momiji who was looking teary-eyed at the girl. I looked at him curiously. Hari looked at him in an odd way.

"What are you talking about, Momiji?" he asked him.

"We can hug her. Today at lunch, I accidently hugged her and I didn't transform. When she saw all the shocked looks on everyone else's faces, she got up and hugged everyone and said 'See? That wasn't so bad! You're all silly!'" Momiji explained and laughed a little while looking at the girl sadly. "Will she be okay, Hari?"

"Yes, she'll be fine, but it's good that I got here when I did. All Yuki said was that someone was bleeding profusely and to come immediately. He had sounded very panicked, which is unlike him, so I came over straight away. I was even supposed to see Akito right about now. But who is this girl, Shigure?" Hari asked me.

"Well, I believe her name is Ellie, at least that's what Tohru screamed when she saw her," I answered. Momiji nodded his head.

"Yep! That's her name. It's Ellie Seeley! She can play the guitar, it's really cool!" Momiji confirmed.

"Yes, well, we should let her rest and wait until she wakes up so we can ask her what happened," I suggested and Hari nodded and all three of us went to the table where everyone else was.

…

**Ellie's point of view**

I swam my way through the darkness. I snapped my eyes open to see an unfamiliar ceiling. I shot up but instantly felt a searing pain shoot through my side. I grabbed it and let out a small yelp of pain before falling back, my eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"You tried to sit up, didn't you?" I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and looked towards it. It was Hatsuharu leaning against the doorway.

"Hi Haru! Yeah, I did," I answered with a sheepish smile before returning to the thoughts of why my side would hurt so much. My brow furrowed in concentration and I felt Haru just looking at me thinking. Then my eyes widened.

Suddenly, I felt all the pain. Stupid psychology, making me realize me stupid physical pain. Screw science. The pain in my side was more surreal than it was when I tried to sit up and I felt it in my shoulder too. There was a dull aching pain on the side of my head but it definitely wasn't as bad as the other two. Then, I came to a more emotionally painful realization as what had happened came rushing back.

Patricia. Being dragged into the woods. Being pushed down. The dagger. Her stabbing me and just leaving me to die in the woods. Then Yuki came I think, but I was already starting to black out by then. And now I'm here I guess. This must be his house. Is it in the middle of the woods? Hehe, kind of like the witch in Hansel and Gretel. Yum, where's the candy?

Wait, what am I going on about? I let my thoughts wander too much. I think about everything that happened. I think about how I knew Patricia didn't like me that much, but how I never thought that she'd try to kill me. I think about Daddy. Does he think I'm dead? Suddenly, there were big, hot tears quickly rolling down my cheeks

"Ellie-chan? What's wrong, why are you crying? Does it hurt? I'll get Hari!" Momiji said and I saw him start to leave through my blurry tears. I grabbed his arm before he could get out of reach and pulled him into my arms, silently crying into his shoulder. I made no sound. Momiji didn't move away but just put his arms around me. I hope this is the only time he sees me sad or anyone that I've just met sees me sad. I've been told that I don't appear to be a very sad person.

Soon I became conscious of the fact that I was soaking his shirt and I felt guilty so I let him go. I wiped my face quickly of any evidence of tears until the only thing that probably remained was a red face and bloodshot eyes, but it wasn't as if I could see my own face.

"Ah, I see that you're awake now. I'd like to ask you some questions," I heard a voice from behind me say. I craned my neck back so I'd be looking upside down instead of just turning my head just because I felt like it. In the doorway stood an upside down (in my view) man in a professional looking suit and tie was looking down at me with a dull expression. Kind of cold, really. He was very tall, especially to me, probably about 6 feet, and he had jet black hair with bangs that went over his left eye. His eyes (or eye, the one I could see anyway) were a dark purple. He seemed to have an expert and stoic aura about him. Actually, it could also be defined as boring for lack of better word.

"Sure!" I said chirped happily, reverting back to my usual demeanor. He walked over to sit in an armchair across from me and I craned my neck back to a normal position and looked at him curiously.

"Do you remember how you got in the forest?" he asked first. The correct answer to this question would be 'Yes, my stepmother dragged me in there and nearly stabbed me to death before fleeing the scene', but I don't think I should say that. One, I don't want pity. I'm already getting enough just from being stabbed in the first place. Two, Daddy really loves her. I couldn't take her away from him, even if it means I might not see him again, which is likely. But luckily, I'm a good liar.

"No, sorry," I lied easily. He nodded and continued on.

"Do you at least remember anything that happened at all?" he asked. I thought about it and decided to tell a little bit of the truth. If you tell a little truth, people are more likely to believe your lies.

"Well, I think I remember someone-maybe Yuki? - yelling my name, but I was kinda blacking out, but obviously someone came since I'm here. Anyway, I-" I began but then stopped when I suddenly remembered something. My eyes widened. My instruments!

I burst up from my position on the couch, not noticing the pain in my side from the pure adrenaline rush to get my instruments. The man across from me rose quickly as I started to dash across the room. I ducked under his outstretched arm trying to stop me and continued running for the door. Haru was there blocking the exit, waiting to stop me. I smiled inwardly. Too easy.

Haru had his feet spread apart, leaving me an easy way out. I sprinted towards him and at last second before he caught me, I dropped to the ground and slid between his legs out the door. I ran towards the forest. I looked back towards the door Haru was in and saw him looking after me with a shocked face. I snickered. Then I saw him start running after me. Ha. He'd never catch me if I didn't want him to.

I winded my way quickly through the maze of trees, unconsciously making my way towards the clearing I had been in earlier. I swiftly dodged low hanging branches and roots stretching up from the ground to trip me. I came to an abrupt stop in the clearing and smiled when I saw my violin and guitar. I walked over to them, but collapsed to my knees as the adrenaline faded and I realized what extreme pain I was in. I hugged my side and breathed deeply. It was about 3 minutes before I heard fast footsteps. I looked in their direction.

I saw the serious black haired guy and Haru bent over holding their knees while trying to catch their breath. Haru looked over at me incredulously. I smiled weakly.

"I had to get my instruments," I explained lamely, pointing at said objects. They had both caught their breath by now and had stood up.

"How did run so fast, especially with your injuries?" Haru asked disbelievingly. I shrugged, wincing at the pain it brought to my shoulder.

"Regardless of you needing your instruments, it was very reckless to just run off. You should've asked someone to go get them if you needed them so bad," the other guy said. I turned my head to him.

"You know, you never told me what your name was. Oh, no! I didn't tell you mine, either! My name is Ellie Seeley. It's very nice to meet you. I can't believe that I forgot to introduce myself…" I muttered to myself. He seemed surprised by the fact that he hadn't introduced himself either.

"I apologize for not introducing myself. I am Hatori Sohma, the Sohma family doctor," he said to me. He still sounds so professional. Really, it's kind of irritating. And I never find anything irritating!

"Can you stand?" Haru asked. I nodded. Honestly, I wasn't sure. But I didn't want anyone carrying me! I stood, though I was unsteady. I bent over to pick up my instruments, but saw that they were already gone. I looked around and saw that Hatori had already picked them up. I blinked. I thought about politely telling him that he didn't have to do that and taking them back, but decided not to say anything.

I walked for a little while and was pretty sure that I'd make it back without any trouble. Yep, I was wrong, as per usual. I stumbled over a root and braced myself for the impact, but it never came. The only thing that came was a hand around my wrist, and then a small shriek from me as I was lifted from the ground. I looked up startled at Haru. He just continued walking.

"Damn, you're light Ellie." I heard him mutter. I didn't say anything and just looked away from him. I saw Hatori and he looked quite shocked. I guess this is similar to hugging. Actually, shock is a weird look on him. It's sort of funny.

Haru finally put me down outside the house and we walked towards the house. As soon as I walked through the door, I was immediately glomped by a bundle of blonde hair. Momiji had tactfully avoided touching my side. I giggled and hugged him back.

"Oh! You ran away to get those? I could have found them!" he exclaimed when Hatori handed me my violin and my guitar. I sat down on the couch with them.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run off so suddenly. Let's just say that my instruments mean a lot to me and not just these ones either," I said looking down, but quickly perked up with a big smile.

"Hey, who else is here besides you all and Yuki?" I asked curiously. Momiji was about to respond before he was interrupted by a cheery sing-song voice.

"Oh, Ellie-chan, how long have you been up?" a loud voice coming from a happy-looking shaggy haired man in the doorway.

"For a while actually, and she managed to take a run as well," Hatori spoke up and I smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you see, I remembered that I had dropped my instruments in the woods, and I really wanted to go get them. So I did," I explained. Who is this man anyway?

"And she's fast too. Neither of us could catch her until she stopped after she found those instruments," Haru put in blankly. I grinned at that. Then I realized that I hadn't introduced myself to the man even though he already seemed to know my name. I stood up and walked over to him.

I stuck out my hand, smiling happily up at him and said, "Hi! My name is Ellie Seeley, but I guess you already knew that." He took my hand and I shook it strongly. It put him off balance for a minute and he looked kind of surprised by my strength. He regained his composure and shook my hand back.

"I am Shigure Sohma! The only reason I know your name is because of Tohru. She practically screamed-"

"Tohru-chan is here? Where?" I shouted, grabbed my guitar and violin, and ran out of the room looking for her. Momiji and Haru followed me.

**Regular Point of View:**

"Kyo's right. She is like another Momiji. How old do you think she is?" Shigure asked Hatori.

"Haru and Momiji told me that she was eighteen," Hatori informed Shigure. Shigure looked shocked.

"Really? That's even more unbelievable than Momiji being fifteen!" Shigure exclaimed. "She's really strong too! She nearly crushed my hand!"

Before Hatori could respond, there was a crash from the other room.

**Ellie's point of view:**

I watched curiously as Kyo and Yuki fought. After a while, it seemed like they were getting serious. I don't really like fighting even though I practice martial arts. I just don't like fighting where you're aiming to hurt your opponent for no reason. They were getting really out of hand and I knew that I was capable of stopping them. So I did.

Kyo was about to throw a punch at Yuki's stomach and Yuki was about to kick Kyo's head. Quite predictable, these two. I dashed in between the two and grabbed Kyo's wrist and Yuki's ankle. In a quick motion, I crouched down and spun, tripping both of them, resulting in them both falling on their butts.

They both looked up at my small form in shock. I stood above them with my hands on my hips. I pointed at both of them admonishingly.

"You shouldn't fight for no reason! You could have hurt each other!" I yelled at them, but then smiled. I reached out a hand to each of them. Yuki accepted, but Kyo ignored it and stood up on his own. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"How did you do that, Ellie-chan?" I heard someone ask from the doorway. I turned towards it and beamed at the man from before, Shigure.

"I practice martial arts, of course. Is it really so unbelievable?" I said with a mock-sad voice and a pouty face.

"Of course not! I can clearly see you as a little ninja!" Shigure exclaimed in mock-desperation. I still loved the ninja comment.

"Oh, that's a relief," I said, feigning relief and wiping pretend sweat from my forehead, and then giggled, not wanting to risk laughing because of my side.

"Ellie-chan, are you sure you're alright?" Tohru, whom I had eventually found, asked, concerned.

"Yep! Just a bit sore," I assured her. She nodded. I looked around at the traditional styled house.

"Whose house is this anyway?" I asked curiously. Shigure raised his hand happily.

"Mine!" he sang.

"Really? Does everyone here live here?" I asked. I had kind of thought that if anyone here owned the house, it would have been Hatori. He just seemed like the most likely to own a house, I suppose.

"No. Hari, Haru, and Momiji don't live here," he answered. That makes sense. Hatori doesn't seem to someone that would be able to put up with living with Shigure. Shigure's carefree happiness contrasts greatly with Hatori's cold, stoic demeanor. But I don't think Hatori could be all bad. I'll bet he can be really nice sometimes. Hopefully, anyway.

"Oh, then where do you three live?" I inquired.

"We live at the family's estate near here!" Momiji yelled gleefully. Yep, my best friend is awesome.

"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you Ellie-chan! I play violin too!" Momiji said, pointing down at my violin. I clasped my hands in front of me excitedly and squealed.

"Really?! We have to do a duet, we'd sound so good!" I exclaimed cheerfully, jumping up and down with Momiji.

"Yes! We should! I know, I'll go get it now!" he shouted and ran out of the house. Haru followed after him, saying something about how they had to get to school, which resulted in Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo running after them as well.

"Do you want me to take you back to where you're staying, Seeley-san? So I can at least explain what little we know about what happened anyway," Hatori asked me.

"Sure! That'd be great!" I lied. I had a feeling that Patricia had already gotten Daddy out of the country if her intentions were what I thought they were, which was to get Daddy for herself and get rid of me. Really, my only hope in going to the hotel was to at least find the rest of my instruments.

"Alright," he said and walked outside to his black, annoyingly professional car. I got in the passenger seat with my violin and guitar just as he got in the driver's seat. I had to bring my instruments because I had to appear as if I was going home. Come to think of it, what am I going to do if they really are gone? It's not like I can ask the Sohmas if I can stay. I mean, they've already saved my life. Well, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I started to give Hatori directions to the hotel I had been staying at, sounding calm and happy as usual.


	4. Abandoned

**Polar Opposites**

**A/N: **Here is Chapter 3! Yay you if you're reading it! Well, Patricia is a nasty one, isn't she? You probably thought that she was just the typical, mean stepmother who takes advantage of the father's money, right? Well, I'm guessing that she might've exceeded your expectations. Kind of like a "well, that escalated quickly" kind of moment. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket or any of its characters and I sadly never will. I do however own my eloquent Ellie! :D

**Chapter 3: Abandoned**

When we arrived at the expensive hotel, I caught a glimpse of a dumpster in the alleyway next to it. I made a mental note of looking through the dumpster, thinking that some of my possessions may be in there if Patricia really did flee the country-or at least the city-with Daddy. If she did, I'm really interested in how she would trick my father. It's not like he's a dumb man, but he might be panicking since I had gone "missing" and he might listen to anything anyone says. But I can't be sure.

"Is this the place?" Hatori asked.

"Yep!" I said happily, but in my mind I was scrambling around trying to think of a story in the event that my hotel room was completely stripped of anything, which I was expecting, and he was wondering why, which he probably would.

"Onward!" I yelled and walked inside through the revolving door with Hatori behind me. I went around the door an extra time, acting like I was doing it for fun, but really I was just stalling. Maybe I could pull a sob story. I'll probably tell the truth eventually if I have to, but that is a last resort.

As we walked towards the elevators and stairs, I looked toward Hatori and said, "I'll bet you that I can beat you up the stairs while you take the elevator!"

"I have no doubt that you could, but I don't recommend it. You should take it easy," he instructed. I sighed at his boringness.

"Oh, alright, I'll just ride the elevator," I said, poking the button. He just nodded. The doors opened and we stepped in. It was so quiet. Doesn't talk much, this one. Then I got an idea. I peeked up at Hatori and saw him just staring straight ahead. I smiled mischievously and jumped high. The elevator shook, putting Hatori off balance for a moment, before he looked at me.

"What are you doing?" he asked exasperatedly. I just smiled innocently.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, looking straight ahead like he had been a moment ago. The elevator door opened before he could respond and I stepped out. He followed me and I skipped lightly down the hall to the room I had only just moved into two days ago. I pulled the key card out of my pocket and hesitantly put it in the door. It clicked and I opened the door to only reveal what I had expected. An empty room.

I looked behind me and saw that Hatori had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Panicked, I quickly came up with a story. And I'd say that it was believable enough if I needed to just get by. Especially since it appeared that I was rich. Which I wasn't really, just high middle class.

"I think I might know what happened. You see, about seven years ago, I got kidnapped by a rival company of my dad's. That was back in Britain though. So, what I'm guessing is that when I went missing, they figured those kidnappers came here and took me back to Britain, which is probably where they are now," I explained. Out loud, my explanation sounded really weak, but I hoped that Hatori would buy it. And then, I realized that that was probably the exact story Patricia used on daddy because the kidnapping part is actually true.

"Who are 'they'?" he asked. Not the first question I expected, but whatever. I'm all for straying off the main topic.

"My Daddy and stepmother, Patricia," I answered. He nodded.

"Wouldn't they think to look here in Japan before packing up everything and leaving for Britain?" he asked. Damn, I knew that he was too smart for some story. I should've come up with a better one! I sighed. I guess I had to trust him.

"Okay, look. That isn't exactly the story," I said, not looking at him but just looking at the empty room with an expressionless face. "I can't tell you anything right now, so just don't say anything okay?" I looked up at him now, looking for something, anything in his face, but it surrendered no emotion. I would've even accepted pity at this point.

"Alright," he said. My eyes widened slightly and I blinked several times, surprised. Wait a second that was too easy!

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"No, pinky swear," I said, sticking out my pinky to him. My mom always used to do pinky swears with me. It was one of the few things I could remember about her. He sighed but seemed to accept that I wouldn't budge unless he gave me his pinky. He stuck out his big pinky to me. I wrapped my small one around his. I smiled at him and said, "Thank you, Hatori."

"You're welcome, Seeley-san," he responded, taking his pinky back. I pursed my lips, frustrated.

"Would you quit that? Call me Ellie!"

"No."

"If you don't, I'll hug you! You all hate hugs!" I said triumphantly. Hatori ignored me and continued walking back to the elevator. I smirked. Never turn your back on Ellie Seeley, Hatori! I sprinted from behind him and jumped onto his back. He stumbled forward in surprise. I giggled. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to steady myself.

"Didn't you believe me, Hatori?" I said, leaning over his shoulder to look sideways at his face.

"You said hug, not attack!" he said, irritated. "Now get down."

"But Hatori, I was recently stabbed twice _and_ received an injury to the head. You have to carry me for health and safety reasons." I whined while suppressing laughter.

"You received a head injury, all right," he muttered and then sighed, giving up. Aha! So the man does have a sense of humor! He walked towards the stairs.

"Oh yay! You're going down the stairs. I knew you'd come around, Hatori! Don't drop me, 'kay?" I said happily as he walked carefully down the flights of stairs while holding my legs with his arms so I wouldn't fall off.

We reached the alleyway outside and I said, "Hatori, wait, stop for a second. Er, can we look in that dumpster real quick?"

"What?" he asked, probably wondering if he had heard me right.

"I asked you if we could go and look in that dumpster for a minute."

"Why?" he asked incredulously, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Well, it's just that I think some of my things may be in there for reasons I'm not going to discuss at this moment in time," I answered carefully. He sighed, but made his way over to the dumpster anyway. He peered into it and I looked over his shoulder.

"My instruments!" I exclaimed, trying to reach over Hatori for them. My drums and piano were even beside the dumpster.

"Why are they all in here?" he asked. I was pretty sure why my instruments were here. I mean, it was pretty clear. Patricia threw them away. I wonder if she convinced Daddy that they were too much to take or if she just snuck them in the trash.

"I don't know," I mumbled, letting my arms hang limp over his shoulders towards the instruments in the oversized garbage can. "I hope none of them are broken," I muttered to myself. I changed the subject before he could further question why my instruments were in the garbage.

"Hey Hatori, do you think that maybe we could bring these back to Shigure's? Maybe? Yes?" I pleaded. "You have no idea how much every single one of these instruments means to me."

"Are you crazy? How do you expect me to fit that grand piano and those drums in my car? Maybe the other instruments," he answered.

"Well I had an idea for those."

"What?"

"Well, I thought that we could all work together and carry them to Shigure's!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms out before shrieking as I nearly fell off of Hatori, but he caught me and put me on the ground.

"Maybe. For now, let's just put the _portable_ ones in my car," he said.

"Hey, the piano and drums are portable. How else do you think they got to Japan?" I reasoned. He ignored me and just picked up my ryuteki and English horn and brought them to the car. I followed him with my viola and clarinet. We put them in the car and went back for the keyboard and trumpet. We got in the car with them. I hoped no one stole the piano or drums.

"We'll go back to Shigure's and ask everyone else when they get home if they want to help and if they do then we'll come back." Hatori said.

"Okay! Thanks, Hatori!"

"You're welcome. So you play, what, ten instruments?"

"Nope! I play eleven!"

"What's the eleventh?"

"My voice!"

"You sing?"

"Yep, and I've been told I'm pretty good! Maybe you can hear someday!"

"Maybe."

It grew silent again as he drove on. I drowned myself in my thoughts while leaning my head on the window. I felt like I didn't have to keep up my happy demeanor around Hatori. I mean, it's not like I don't like being happy all the time, because I do. It's just that sometimes I'm sad, or I'm angry, or I'm just upset and I can't show it because it's not my personality. If I'm not smiling, people will think that something is wrong. I think Hatori might understand, because he seems to keep up a demeanor as well. Though his is cold while mine is cheerful. But what if he wants to laugh, or smile, or cry sometimes? He probably can't because it wouldn't fit his personality. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked over at the tapper.

"We're at Shigure's now, Seeley-san. Everyone else won't be home for a few hours," Hatori said, getting out of the car and I did as well. I followed him to the trunk where my instruments were. We carried them all inside in two trips, only carrying two at a time each so there wouldn't be a risk of dropping one of them. There were only eight though so it wasn't that hard of a task.

"Hatori," I said, implying that I had a question.

"Hmm?" he answered.

"Do you think that Shigure would let me stay here, just for a little while?" I asked.

"I'm positive that he would," he answered bluntly. I looked up at him.

"You really think so?"

"Yes, I'm sure that he will."

"But, it's just that he already has three other high school students in his house. Why would he be willing to welcome another?"

"I don't know. He just would. Don't complain, don't you want him to let you live in his house?"

"Yes!" I said and pouted. He was turning my words around!

"Okay then. I'll come back later when everyone comes home to help with those large instruments of yours if they decide to help. Shigure should probably be in his office down the hall," Hatori said and with that walked out of the house to his car.

"Shigure?" I called out while walking down the hall, unsure of which door was his office.

"In here!" I turned towards the voice and walked towards it to a sliding door and slid it open to find Shigure sitting at a desk with a pencil on his nose.

"Hello Ellie-chan, I see you're back. What happened? Not that I'm not happy to see you back, of course," Shigure said with a grin.

"Oh, no, of course not," I replied with a similar grin, quickly putting together my story in my head. "Anyway, when I got to the hotel I was staying at, my stepmom and my dad weren't there. So, what I'm pretty sure is what happened is that when I went "missing", as in they couldn't find me after a day, they went back to Britain to look for me there. I think that they went there because my father works for a major company in Britain and this one time some rivals of the company kidnapped me. But since that was back in Britain, they probably thought that the same people tried to kidnap me again," I explained, using the same story that I had used on Hatori, hoping that it would work on Shigure even though it failed with Hatori.

"I see," was all Shigure said while leaning back in his chair and looking at the ceiling. Oh, Shigure, please don't think about my lie too hard.

"So," I began eager to get him to stop thinking about my story. "I was wondering if, maybe, I could maybe stay here for a little while? Maybe?" I said while looking at the floor.

"Of course you can! It'll be absolutely lovely to have you here, Ellie-chan!" Shigure exclaimed. I looked up at him quickly.

"You really mean it?" I asked excitedly. Shigure nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep! It'll be great and Tohru and Momiji will be so happy to hear that you're staying! I'm sure that we'll be having more visits from Momiji and Haru now. Oh damn, that probably means more Black Haru…" Shigure mumbled the last part to himself.

"Black Haru?" I asked curiously. What could that mean?

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, never mind!" Shigure said, happily waving his hands around. I blinked and just shrugged my shoulders to myself.

"'Kay! I'm gonna go take a walk! Later!" I said and skipped out of Shigure's office.

"Bye! Be safe!" I heard him call after me.

"I will!" I called back and walked out the door to the woods.

I walked through the brush and leaves. The ground was so colorful and vibrant with orange, red, and yellow as it was fall. Leaves of beautiful colors were falling from the sky above me. I twirled around with my arms outstretched and my eyes closed with the setting sun shining on me. I felt like I was in the happiest part of a storybook.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of pink along with a small flash of silver. It scared me for a moment, but I disregarded it as a trick of my eyes. I believe that I only did this as to not make myself worry. Maybe I was just too paranoid.

I heard a rustle of leaves from my left and I spun in its direction, my breathing quickening. Then, I heard a crack of a stick from behind me and swiftly turned around, now nearly hyperventilating. I looked all around me frantically, completely and utterly panicking. All of a sudden, I was pushed roughly against the trunk of a large tree. A hand curled around my neck and vicious, venomous words were whispered with hot breath in my ear.

"I thought that maybe you'd bleed out and I could bring your body to Britain for them to find later. Looks like I was wrong. Guess I'll just have to finish the job," Patricia hissed.

"Why are you back in Japan? I thought you went back to Britain with Daddy," I choked out, my eyes wide with fear and my struggle to get air.

"I came back to get your body, my dear Ellie. But here you are, already walking again. I guess I didn't do a good enough job. That's unacceptable."

"How did you…even get…Daddy…to leave the country…anyway?" I asked breathlessly.

"Oh, you know, I just said that it was those kidnappers from before in Britain and that we should go back and look there. And he was oh so desperate to find his beloved daughter that he agreed," Patricia said and smiled maliciously. I glared at her as best as I could.

"Enough chit-chat. It's about time I got rid of you for good," she said and pulled out the flash of silver I had seen, a knife, maybe even the same one from the last time. As she pulled back her hand and was about to crash the dagger down into my heart, I kneed her in the stomach. She doubled over and I gave her a right hook in the jaw. She fell on the ground, holding her face and stomach. I ran away, dashing blindly through the forest. I kept looking behind me, scared, no, terrified, that Patricia would follow after me. I looked back again and then there was no ground under my feet.

I screamed and reached out my hand for anything to grab onto. My hands got a grip on the cliff's edge. Breathing deeply, I slowly looked below me at the drop. I quickly looked away. It was far, maybe 5 stories.

Knuckles white and palms sweaty from holding on so tightly to the cliff's edge, I thought about much easier it'd be to let go. I thought about how Patricia would find me anyway. I thought about Daddy was probably already losing hope and that he would move on soon enough. I thought about how Haru said how light I was. I thought about the bullies that used to torture me. I thought about the fuzzy orange bracelets on my wrists. I thought about how Hari had taken care of me and helped me and promised to keep my secret, pinky sweared. I thought about Momiji, my new best friend. I thought about my best friend back in Britain, my only friend there, who probably thought I was dead. I thought about Tohru, the first person I met here. I thought about Kyo and Yuki and how they fought. I thought about Haru and his blank but sweet demeanor. I thought about Shigure and his cheerfulness. I thought about how I had known the Sohmas for a little more than a day and a half and I already loved them so much. I thought about the story my grandpa and uncle always told me. I thought about how Daddy never hugged me. I thought about my mom and how much I missed her but how little I remembered of her. I thought about what my past really held.

And with those thoughts in mind, I finally let go and fell.


	5. Sometimes All You Need's A Kind Stranger

**Polar Opposites**

**A/N: **I love cliffhangers, I really do. New character! Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket or any of its characters and I sadly never will. I do however own my eloquent Ellie! :D

**Chapter 4: Sometimes All You Need Is A Kind Stranger **

**Ellie's point of view**

Falling fast, I crashed on the ground in a heap. I didn't move. I didn't have the energy to. I didn't really care anymore. I heard footsteps near. I wondered, and kind of hoped, that it was Patricia coming to finish me off. I was in pain, but I didn't care about that either. The footsteps came closer. I closed my heavy eyelids. But when I felt someone's touch, it was a gentle touch, though I still did flinch.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?" I heard a distant voice say. Obviously, I was not okay. I felt the person put their fingers on my neck to check my pulse. I decided to force my eyes open. I wanted to know who this was.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a very concerned and worried face of a white-blonde haired boy. He seemed young, or maybe he was just small like me. He had yellow eyes like me too. Come to think of it, he looks a lot like me. I stared at him with half-closed eyes.

"Yeah, not okay…Alright, so, maybe I could carry you somewhere? But what if I transf…no! I have to try! Ugh, I knew I should've started working out or something!" the boy scolded himself as he slid him arms under my back and tried with all of his strength to lift. That was too much strength for my weight though. He stumbled backward and nearly dropped me.

"Whoa! You're light, girl! Almost fell there… 'Kay, where should I take you? Oh right, the hospital!" he exclaimed and started running as fast as he could manage in what I assumed to be the direction of the hospital. No, I don't want to go there. It really doesn't matter. I might as well die. Patricia needs my body after all.

"I don't want to go to the hospital," I said in a raspy voice. The boy stopped running and looked down at me.

"But why not? You have to! You're really hurt!" he exclaimed.

"I don't care. I don't want to go. It doesn't matter." I said emotionlessly. Then he suddenly got a stern look on his face. It looked kind of funny on him.

"No, it does matter. You're hurt and you're going to the hospital. Obviously, you probably can't do anything to stop me. So that's what I'm going to do," He stated firmly and continued on, walking quickly. I sighed and just leaned myself against his chest. He looked down at me with shock but it was quickly replaced with happiness. Then a thought occurred to me. Could he be a Sohma? I supposed me leaning against him was sort of like a hug, or at least physical contact, which the Sohmas appeared to dislike.

"Are you a Sohma?" I asked.

"Huh? How did you know?" the boy asked.

"Let's just call it intuition."

"What's your name anyway?"

"Ellie Seeley, and yours?"

"Eiji Sohma! Hey, our names are kind of similar, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled, looking away, wishing that he would just leave me here to die. I feel depressed, or maybe that's an understatement.

"So, what happened to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say I'm really confused and messed up right now," I responded vaguely.

"Oh," he said, probably not knowing how to respond to that.

"Look Sohma-san, if you're so concerned for me, just bring me home. There is no need for me to go to the hospital. Besides I know a doctor. Just bring me home."

"But-"

"Please. Just bring me…home. _I don't even know what home is anymore,_" I mumbled the last part in English.

"What was that last part? English?" Eiji asked curiously.

"Yes," I answered dully.

"Cool!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's great. Now please bring me home. I promise that I'll call the doctor I know. Pinky swear," I said, sticking out my pinky. Eiji's eyes widened.

"Pinky…pinky swear?" he whispered quietly, more to himself than me, sadness and loss in his eyes, the same sadness and loss I felt when I thought about pinky swears.

"Yeah… pinky swear," I said, smiling a small smile, and taking his pinky in my hand and curling my pinky around his. He smiled at me too.

"Okay. I'll bring you home. Where is it?" he asked.

"You know that cliff near where you found me at?" Eiji nodded. "It's up there, like in the middle of the forest."

He nodded. "Okay, I know a good shortcut up that cliff." I nodded as well and just leaned my head against his chest, feeling a strange bond between the two of us, but also exhausted. I closed my eyes and started to drift off instantly. I felt someone shaking me soon after. I opened my eyes groggily.

"You can't sleep! You could have hit your head and maybe you have a concussion! Do you want to go into a coma?" he said.

"_Maybe_," I said in English. This was true, but really, I wanted to learn more about this Eiji Sohma first.

"Huh?" he asked, confused by my English.

"Nothing. I won't go to sleep, promise." He nodded and continued walking.

"You know, we look a lot alike," he pointed out after walking in silence for a while.

"I was thinking the same thing earlier. Same white blonde hair, same yellow, wolf-like eyes, same shortness, same features. Yeah, we do look a lot like. It's kind of creepy, really. Do you play any instruments?" I asked him.

"Yeah, actually, eleven including my voice." I blinked, very surprised. This was getting more and more creepy.

"That's really weird because I play eleven instruments too, including my voice." Eiji looked at me for a moment and then laughed. It was a really happy, pure laugh. It was nice.

"It looks like I've found my double then," he said, still laughing. I laughed a little too. It felt good to laugh with Eiji. I feel like I knew him before and now I've found him again.

"Yeah, I guess you have," I said, giggling. Then I realized something horrible. I looked towards the forest we were approaching, the one where I had run from Patricia in earlier. What if she was still in there? I couldn't let her hurt Eiji. And I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't hesitate to if she had to. But I wouldn't let her get that chance. I'll protect Eiji, a boy whom I feel a strange connection to.

"Eiji, put me down. Let me go and don't follow me further than this. Please, just listen to me," I said, looking straight into his eyes, the ones that were identical to mine.

"What do you mean? You said that you'd let me bring you home," he said, confused. I shook my head.

"No, it's okay, I can get there from here, okay? It's really close. Please, just let me go," I pleaded.

"No. I'm bringing you home," he said firmly. I bit my lip but let him go forward, my heart beating fast.

We walked through the forest for about 20 minutes until I saw a quick flash of pink. My heartbeat sped up rapidly. It was time for a last resort.

"Put me down! Let me go! Please! Get away from me!" I screamed suddenly, knocking myself out of Eiji's arms. I scrambled off the ground and saw him staring at me with wide eyes full of shock and surprise. He regained some of his composure and tried to walk toward me.

"No! Stay away from me! Get out of here! Now! Go!" I screamed, frantically looking around, hoping that Patricia would let him go. It's not like she has any goal in killing him, just me.

"B-but-," he tried to get out.

"No! I said get out of here! Go now! Go!" I screeched. With wide eyes, Eiji slowly backed up and then turned around and ran away. I silently thanked him for running. Now let's see if I can escape from Patricia myself. I want to find out more about Eiji.

I looked around cautiously for Patricia but saw no sign of her. I was sure she was still here, though. I started to run. If she didn't pop up unexpectedly somewhere up ahead, I think that I may be able to get back to Shigure's house. I heard fast footsteps start to chase me from behind. Good, she's behind me. She can't catch me now. I sped and came into the clearing that was Shigure's house. I got up on the porch and turned around to face the forest and Patricia.

I saw her, concealed by the trees. She mouthed to me, "I will get you. Don't worry," and turned and walked off. I have goose bumps all over my body. I either need to get out of Shigure's house as soon as possible and get a weapon to protect them from Patricia. I turned and walked into the house. Shigure was sitting at the table.

"Ah! Welcome home, Ellie! How was your wa- oh my god! What happened to your head, Ellie?" Shigure exclaimed. Well, now I know I'm injured. I felt my head with my fingers and pulled them away at the touch of blood. I stared at my fingers painted with blood for moment before looking back at Shigure, who was staring at me with concern and I could see that he was slowly inching for the phone while waiting for an explanation for my head.

"Oh, I kind of fell. It's okay, though. Just a little blood, see?" I said, holding up my fingers for inspection. I wonder if he could tell my demeanor was different. I continued staring at the blood on my fingers while listening to him call Hatori. I vaguely heard parts of what Shigure said, "blood", "head", "fell", "come", and "immediately".

"Ellie?" I heard Shigure say to me. But his voice was distant. I stared at my fingers, distorted with blood. They blurred once, then twice. I wavered on my feet. I stared at my hand, but there were now three of them, all covered in blood. I shook my head quickly. There was a thumping my head. The room was spinning. I fell to my knees and clawed at my face. I heard Shigure's panicked, distorted voice. I looked towards him and saw a twisted monster. I looked down at the floor and screamed, covering my ears. I was breathing fast. I collapsed sideways on the floor, closing my eyes, unconscious as a puddle of blood formed around my head.

…

I opened my eyes to see a white ceiling. I sat up quickly, panicking at the sight of an unfamiliar room. I tried to get out of the bed I was in to find that there were many plastic tubes attached to me. I ripped them all off me. Then there was a loud ringing noise. I fell to my knees and covered my ears, not liking that sound at all. `Suddenly it stopped, but when I looked up, there were at least ten people in the room. My eyes widened. I looked for a familiar face, but found none. I scooted away from all the people. My ears were still ringing from the noise. One of the people started towards me. It was a man in a white coat. I screamed and scooted further away from him into a corner, burying my face in my knees.

I looked up and finally found a familiar face. I don't know who it is, though. But they are reaching out for me, trying to help me and I know that I know them. He is only sticking out his hand to me but I jumped into his arms and buried my face into his shoulder. He caught me on instinct most likely, but stumbled backward a bit. I sobbed into his shoulder. Who was this man, anyway? I feel like I know him, but I don't think that I do. Really, my mind is a scrambled mess at the moment. I don't know what's what.

"Seeley-san?" I heard the man holding me say. What's that? It must be my last name. Maybe. I'll ask. I looked up at the man's familiar face.

"Is that my name?" I asked in a small, soft voice. The man blinked, apparently surprised.

"Yes, your name is Ellie Seeley," the man said in a deep voice. I nodded, now full of questions for the familiar man.

"And what's your name? You seem familiar," I said.

"My name is Hatori Sohma," he answered, while placing me on the bed I had quickly gotten out of earlier. I wish that he wouldn't, but I wanted to hear more. So I let him reattach those plastic tubes on me, though I made a mental plan to escape from them and this place after I found out more from this man.

"Hatori," I said to get the man's attention. He looked towards me with a raised eyebrow.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"A hospital," he answered.

"I don't like hospitals," I said.

"I've noticed."

"I'm not sure why, though," I said, though more to myself.

"Yes, it seems that you have amnesia," he said. Huh?

"What's that?"

"It means that you've forgotten things," he told me.

"How did that happen?"

"I'm not sure. Someone else you know, Shigure, brought you here, not me," he answered.

"Oh. Do I like him? Is he my friend?" I asked curiously.

"I believe so."

"Do you work in this hospital?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"I came to see if the doctors here were doing their jobs right. Plus, your friends were worried about you."

"They were? Where are they?" I asked.

"They are in school right now," he said and I recognized the word school and understood.

"Even Shigure?" I asked.

"No, Shigure is older than that. He said that he would be coming to see you soon, though," he responded.

"Oh, that's good. I'd like to ask him what happened."

"Me too."

The room was silent for a moment while Hatori wrote something down. I yawned and he looked up.

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you when Shigure comes," he said before starting to walk out the door.

"Wait! Pinky swear?" I called after him. He stopped in the doorway. "Pinky swear that you'll wake me?" I repeated. Hatori turned around. He had a small smile on his face. It looked nice on him. He walked back over to me and wrapped his pinky around my extended one.

"I promise, pinky swear. Now go to sleep. You're tired," he said and I nodded. He nodded as well and walked out of the room. I smiled at where he just was and closed my eyes.

…

**Shigure's point of view:**

I was really freaked out when Ellie went crazy all of sudden. It was like it was out of a horror movie. She was screaming and clawing at her face like she trying to get something off of her. Also, she seemed really fascinated by the blood on her fingers. I brought her to the hospital after she fainted and the doctors said that she should be fine. But I'm still really worried about her and Hari called and said I could come and see her if I'd like but that I'd have to tell him what happened to her first. But, really I don't know much. Oh well. I got in my car to drive to the hospital that I had brought Ellie to.

I walked through the big hospital doors. They really are kind of intimidating. Hari said that he would be waiting in the lobby. Er…where's that again? I think it's on the first floor and it has a bunch of couches and tables and stuff, maybe.

I was right! There he is, sitting on a couch. He looks a bit worried about something. I hope nothing horribly bad is wrong with Ellie-chan!

"Hello Haa-san!" I greeted him as I plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Hello, Shigure," he responded in a slightly irritated voice.

"So, how's Ellie?"

"Well, it seems that she has amnesia," Hari answered bluntly. My eyes widened out of surprise. Here we are, hardly knowing much about her already and then she goes and loses her memories herself.

"Really? Wow, that was unexpected, huh?" I said, trying to ease the tension in the air from his blunt announcement. He nodded.

"Now tell me what happened."

"Okay, or, at least I'll tell the little that I know myself," I said with a small halfhearted laugh. "Alright, so she comes back to my house, dropped off by you I presume. And tells me something about how her parents are in Britain and another something about a kidnapping and asks me if she can stay at my house," I begin. I see a flash of laughter in Hari's eyes. I wonder why. "Of course, I say yes and she then says that she is going for a walk. She's gone for about an hour before I hear her come back and I'm sitting at the table. I look up to greet her and she just has this…blank look on her face and there's blood dripping from her head. I ask her what happened to her head and she just touches her head with her fingers and just stares at the blood that came off on it for a few minutes before she tells me that she 'kind of fell'. That's when I called you. But when I came back to where she was, she was stilling staring at her fingers and the blood on them. She was kind of swaying on her feet and I was trying to talk to her but she didn't seem to hear me. Then, all of a sudden she just fell to her knees and started scratching at her face, like she was trying to get something off of her. I was getting really panicked and I was still trying to talk to her, but when she looked up at me she just looked back at the floor quickly and screamed. That's when she collapsed sideways and fainted. That's it," I finished, ending the explanation. Hari only nodded for a moment.

"Hmm, I see. You may go see her now. Fifth floor, Psychiatric and Trauma unit, room 111," Hari said before getting up and walking down the hall. I got up and entered the elevator, pressing the number 5. Once on the floor, it wasn't too hard to find the Psychiatric and Trauma unit, but I did have to ask for directions to room 111.

"Be careful. That girl may flare up and start screaming if you're too sudden. Try not to surprise her. That girl was going absolutely nuts! None of could get near her without her screaming bloody murder! Only Dr. Sohma managed to calm her down," the nurse who directed me to room 111 warned. I only nodded, wondering if it was really that bad. I wonder if she'll recognize me.

I tip toed slowly into her room and looked at her bed where she… _wasn't _lying in?! I looked around the room quickly, wondering where she went. Maybe she's in the bathroom? I stepped further into the room and looked around. I saw all the plastic tubes just lying on her bed. Wasn't she supposed to be attached to those? I went towards the bed. I didn't get far though.

I heard a small shout, kind of like a battle cry, as a small weight landed on my back. I stumbled forward. I looked over my shoulder to see Ellie pounding on my head with her small fists.

"Let me out of here!" she screeched. I carefully lifted her off of my back, to which she responded to with a series of high pitched screams. She continued to scream and flail her legs until she ended up kicking me in the stomach to which I responded by promptly dropping her and holding my stomach in pain. Ellie scrambled to her feet and ran out the door before I could even attempt to stop her.

…

**Ellie's point of view**

I finally got out of that room. I never promised to that Hatori guy that I wouldn't try to escape. Wow, I can run fast. People from every side were trying to stop me but all it took was a simple duck and easy dodge to the side to avoid their extended arms out to catch me, hold me captive.

I shoved my way through unsuspecting visitors to the hospital and race down the white stairs, my chasers far behind me. I am in a mere, flimsy gown, but that isn't going to stop me from escaping. I wonder what the weather is like outside.

I bound down five flights of stairs before quickly pushing open a door at the end. I look around at surroundings. There's even more people down here! But I hear the people behind me quickly advancing on me so I push onward through the immense amount of people in front of me and head for the big doors, where I can already see the sun shining through.

"Someone stop that girl!" I heard several people yell and many try to stop me but I'm far too quick for them. Someone tries to block the door I so desperately want to get through so I can escape. But unfortunately for him, his standing in front of the automatic door resulted in its opening behind him. I slid under his legs at the last moment and felt a strange sense of familiarity, like I had done this before.

I shook off the feeling as I scrambled to my feet and ran out into the sunshine, laughing happily as I did so. I looked behind and saw the people still chasing after me. I frowned, unhappy that the chase wasn't over. Couldn't they just let me be free?

I hid behind some cars, but this won't buy me much time. Would I be able to run away into the nearby forest without any of my pursuers noticing? I looked around and saw an expensive looking, red corvette. I bet that car has a really loud car alarm…

I looked around and was disappointed to find that there was I could hit or break the windows of the car with. So then, thinking that I had nothing to lose, I got into a stance that felt slightly familiar, and kicked my foot straight through the passenger window of the corvette. The car alarm was as loud and piercing as a fire alarm.

This caused quite a lot of commotion amongst the people searching for me, which gave me an opening to escape. Everyone was looking towards the car and some were even running towards, thinking that I might be there. I ran out from behind the car and dashed away from the hospital grounds. I didn't look back. I kept running from that place. It was confusing me more than I already was. I mean, I feel like I don't know anything, anyplace, anyone. Maybe that's because I mostly don't.

**A/N: and that's where I'll stop. The chapter I mean. I look forward to the next one…oh wait I'm writing it. ^_^ I still look forward to it. R&R!**


	6. Am I Still There?

**Polar Opposites**

**A/N: **Hello my children!...and other ages. Nah, you are all children, including me! Please excuse my rambling and enjoy the chapter… -.-

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket of any of its characters and I sadly never will. I do however own my eloquent Ellie! :D

**Chapter 5: Am I Still There?**

**Shigure's point of view**

What do you mean she's _gone_?" Hatori asked angrily. I tapped my fingertips together nervously.

"I leave to perform some tests on Seeley-san's brain for maybe twenty minutes, if not, then less, and now she's gone? What happened?" Hatori demanded and I jumped at the opportunity to explain myself and maybe tone down his temper.

"Well, after you told me that I could go see her and left, I did. But when I found her room and went in, she wasn't on the bed and the tubes I'm assuming she was supposed to be attached to were just lying on the bed. I started looking around for her even there really weren't many places she could've been hiding. Then, from out of nowhere, she jumps on my back and starts pounding my head with her tiny fists, screaming 'Let me out of here!' Are the doors in the psycho unit locked from the outside or something? Because otherwise she would've just left on her own," I said. Hari nodded.

"Yes, some doors in the Psychiatric and Trauma Unit are locked depending on the patient. Go on," he answered and I nodded.

"So then I lifted her off my back and she just starts screaming and kicking her legs all around. I tried to get her back on her bed but she finally got a kick to my stomach. I dropped her and she ran out the door. And…now we're here, I guess," I finished lamely. Hari seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments.

"Alright, I'm going to go look in the woods near here. She may have run into there. There's really nowhere else for her to run to. And you go look back at your house. She may have led herself there subconsciously. Call me if you find her," he said and was out the door. I didn't waste any time and left the hospital and drove my car to my house.

**Ellie's point of view**

Yep, I'm lost for sure. I've seen that rock before. Yes, definitely. That tree, too. I'm walking in circles, or ovals or some shape or another. And I'm freezing. Stupid gown. Who am I, Magellan or something? Hmm, where did that come from…American History, maybe? Yes, in…um, 3rd grade? That sounds about right. I smiled happily to myself at my accomplishment of remembering something so specific, but shivered as a cold chill blew past. It was autumn, I believe. Really pretty leaves out here. Sigh, I'm forever lost.

I was thinking about turning around and finding that repetitive rock and taking a rest on it when I spotted a house through the trees. I nearly squealed with glee but quickly stopped myself so as to not disturb the eerie silence of the forest. I practically tip-toed all the way to the traditional looking house, eyeing it curiously. I carefully stepped up onto the porch, but quickly recoiled at the pain that shot through my head.

Even though my eyes were squeezed shut in agony, so many things were flashing before my eyes in rapid procession. I saw a panicked purple haired boy with bright purple eyes hovering over me, shouting something frantically. I saw a rather agitated looking, orange haired boy with red eyes looking up at me in shock and slight annoyance. I saw a serene white and black haired boy carrying me through the woods after I had fallen. I saw a cheerful brown haired girl laugh as I ran to her with a hug. I saw a dramatic, shaggy, black haired man making mock gestures with me. I saw a happy blonde haired hugging me as I cried into his shoulder. I saw Hatori trying to block me from running as I sprang up from a couch. I saw a redheaded woman in pink glaring at me as she hid in the woods. Then everything was a blur of color as I let out a small gasp and a shriek of pain as I fell to the wooden floor of the porch, unconscious.

**Shigure's point of view**

It didn't take long to get there. All there is between my house and the hospital is a large forest. I got out of my car and gasped at the small lump in a hospital gown on the porch. I quickly ran over to it and put two fingers to Ellie's neck, and sighed with relief as I felt a weak yet steady pulse beating in her. I guess Hatori was right. She did lead herself here. Maybe the house will trigger some memories for her.

I picked her up gently, albeit cautiously, even though I knew that I wouldn't transform. I was still shocked that she had no effect on us. What was so special about this girl? I really was very curious. A little innocent research couldn't hurt, right? Right. However, said research will have to wait until after I call Hatori.

I carried Ellie inside and put her on the couch. Huh, that's funny. That's the same couch that she was on when she got stabbed, what, two days ago? Why does it seem like it was longer? Time must be stretching out, or too much is happening at once. I shrugged at the thought, and dialed Hatori's cell.

"Hello, Hatori Sohma speaking," Hatori answered formally, as per usual.

"Hello Hatori, Shigure Sohma speaking," I said, imitating his greeting with a grin. He ignored it with a sigh.

"Shigure, did you call for a reason?" he asked exasperatedly. I could practically see him rubbing his temples in annoyance.

"Actually, yes. It seems that you were right. I found Ellie on my front porch, passed out. Don't worry, I checked her pulse and she's fine. Well, fine as in her heart is beating. I don't know anything else. You're the doctor, not me," I said matter-of-factly into the receiver.

"Really?" he sounded a bit surprised that we – well, _I _– had found her so quickly. "Alright, I'll be there soon. I'm not far off. Goodbye," he said and promptly hung up on me. Sigh, so rude sometimes.

I glanced over at the crumpled figure on the couch. Would Hatori approve of my snooping around for information on her? Maybe, but most likely not. No, I shouldn't involve him. I can find out plenty of information on my own, anyhow. I am a novelist, after all. I chuckled at my statement.

_I guess we'll just have to see how this story plays out, then_, I thought as I heard the front door open and the footsteps of certain black haired doctor approach the living room. _I'm sure that it'll be interesting._

**Ellie's point of view**

I opened my eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. I stared at for another moment, thinking about how it gave me a strange déjà vu feeling. I looked around and found that I was alone in the large room. I was also on a couch. I looked down and saw that I was not in the same clothes that I remembered being in before. No, instead of that greenish flimsy gown, I was now wearing soft pajama pants and an equally soft button-up top. I stood up, I didn't want to sit.

"I see that you're awake, but you shouldn't be standing, Seeley-san," I heard a voice say and immediately turned toward it.

"Hatori!" I yelled happily, ecstatic to see something familiar. I ran to him and hugged him. He didn't seem to be expecting that, so he stumbled backwards a bit.

"Well, at least you're energetic," he said, patting my head a bit before I let go of him. Then, I thought about where I was and why he was here. This was only a house in the woods, right? Did he live here? Then, I remembered that I had run away from the hospital after he had taken care of me and felt very guilty. I bowed deeply to him.

"I-I'm sorry for running away, Hatori. I won't do it again, I promise, pinky swear, right? I just don't like that hospital place. But I'll go back if you really want me to," I said sheepishly, staring at the floor as I waited for his forgiveness or rejection. His approval meant a lot to me right now seeing as he was the only person I could vaguely recognize, even if I couldn't remember a thing about him.

"It's alright; you don't have to go back. You can stay here. Do you recognize the place?" He asked me gently after I had looked up. I looked around and shook my head.

"N-No, should I?" I asked, afraid of disappointing him.

"Well, possibly, even though you've only been here twice. However, it's the most recent place you've been to before you lost your memory, so I thought that you might remember it," he said, a bit more to himself than to me.

"O-Oh, I'm s-sorry, then. For not r-remembering, that is."

"There's no need to apologize Seeley-san." I merely nodded and thought for a moment.

"Oh yeah! You said something about a man named Shigure, remember? Where's he at?" I asked just as a shaggy blacked haired man walked into the room. I shrieked and hid behind Hatori, gripping his jacket tightly as I peeked around him at the man.

"That's the man who was searching my whole room for me! I attacked him though! You won't get ahold of me this time!" I shouted while pointing a finger at the man accusingly and hid completely behind Hatori. I was forced to let go of his jacket as he turned around.

"That's Shigure, Seeley-san," Hatori said matter-of-factly, pointing at the man behind him who was trying to control fits of laughter. What's he laughing about? I glared at him.

"What's so funny?" I asked him angrily. Instead of responding, he gave into himself and burst out in laughter. He was doubled over and holding his side. I uncontrollably let out a giggle and started to laugh, soon as unable to stop as Shigure was. Soon after, Shigure calmed himself down a bit and stood up a straight with a little chuckle.

"I'm sorry Ellie-chan, but it was so funny! I'm Shigure, though, not some man searching for you in the hospital room. Although, I suppose I was doing that, as well."

I stopped laughing too, though I was still giggling a bit. I smiled at him, a little embarrassed for shouting at him like that and accusing him as well.

"It's okay. And I'm sorry for yelling at you. And attacking you. And kicking you in the stomach…" I trailed off, blushing lightly, feeling very guilty. But Shigure just laughed again.

"Forget about it, forget about it. You didn't know. Besides, I can imagine that it was scary to wake up and know practically nothing about the world around you, right? It's almost like being born into another life. It's gotta be really strange," he said sympathetically. I nodded, and it was quiet for a moment.

"Seeley-san, when they get home, how would you like to see some people that you know before you lost your memory? You don't have if you don't want to, I just thought that you might recognize another face or bring back a memory," Hatori suggested. I looked at him for a moment before nodding again.

"Okay, they should be coming home from school soon. Actually, come to think of it, they don't know that you've lost your memory yet. They only know that you went to the hospital. This has all happened in such a short period of time. Most likely, five people will be coming, if not then three. Their names are Tohru Honda, Yuki Sohma, Kyo Sohma, Momiji Sohma, and Hatsuharu Sohma."

"You said that Momiji was your best friend before. You guys are practically like twins, too." Shigure spoke up. "Oh yeah, and don't be frightened by Kyo. He always has that scowl on his face. Hopefully, he won't be rude, but we can only hope, right?"

"So, um, how did the others like me besides Momiji?" I asked nervously.

"Hmm, let me think," Shigure said. "I guess Hatsuharu seems a bit protective of you. And Kyo makes it seem like he hates everyone, but he was just as worried as everyone else when he learned that you were in the hospital. Tohru was apparently the first person you met in Japan. Oh, and Yuki saved you from the forest this one time."

"Saved me from the forest?" I asked curiously. Shigure paused for a second, seeming to realized something, and looked over at Hatori, who gave him a warning look.

"Ah, yes, yes, but that's a story for another day," Shigure said with a laugh. I opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of an opening door and several shouts of "We're home!" Almost instinctively, I hid behind Hatori, peeking out from behind him.

Five people walked into the room, chatting lightly. The first person to spot me was the shortest, a happy, blonde boy. His whole face lit up. He ran to me, and before Hatori or Shigure could stop him, he hugged me, nearly toppling me over. I let out a small shriek, but he didn't seem to hear it.

"Ellie-chan! We were all so worried! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? What happened? Why did you have to go to the hospital? W-"

Before the blonde boy could ask another question, Hatori pulled him off of me. I didn't move. I just stood there, shocked at what just happened. The blonde boy pouted and looked up at Hatori.

"Hey! Let me go, Hari! I was just happy to see her! Oh! Is she hurt? Am I not supposed to touch her or it'll hurt? I'm sorry Ellie-chan!" The blonde boy apologized frantically. I didn't respond. I felt someone grab my arm. I looked quickly towards the person, hearing my neck make a crack sound. It was Shigure. He motioned for us to leave the room and then dragged me out into a kitchen.

"Hatori's just going to explain your situation to them, okay?" he said to me. "I just thought that you wouldn't want everyone staring at you while he did, is all." I was surprised for a moment, but then I smiled and decided that Shigure was another person I was going to trust along with Hatori. Well, that makes two as of now.

"Yeah, I don't. Thank you, Shigure."

"No problem, El."

…

**Hatori's point of view**

It was smart of Shigure to take Seeley-san out of the room. She would probably just feel more nervous and anxious with everyone staring at her. However, now I was the one everyone was staring at.

"Why did she have to go to the hospital?" Hatsuharu asked blankly.

"Well, from what Shigure told me, she went for a walk, and when she came back, her head was bleeding, and long story short, she fainted and Shigure brought her to the hospital. We're not sure what exactly happened to her or how she hit her head because she has amnesia," I explained bluntly, short and sweet. Everyone was silent for a moment before Tohru, Momiji, and Kyo all simultaneously said, "WHAT?!" Yuki and Hatsuharu said nothing, but both looked extremely surprised, which was an odd look on Haru.

"Like I said, Seeley-san has amnesia. She doesn't appear to remember very much, including you all. She doesn't remember any of you. However, if you talk to her, she might recognize you. I can't guarantee anything. Amnesia's a fickle thing. Just don't surprise her. She's very jumpy at the moment. Okay, so one at a time, you all can go into the kitchen and talk to her. Who's first?" I asked.

"C-Can I go first?" Momiji asked, tears in the corner of his eyes. I nodded and waved a hand towards the kitchen, motioning for him to go on in.

…

**Ellie's point of view**

Shigure said that everyone probably won't talk to me at once and that most likely, Hatori was going to make them come talk to me one at a time.

"Can you stay here too?" I asked, nervous about talking to the new people. Which one would I talk to first?

"Sure thing, El," he said and before I could respond, there was a quiet knock on the kitchen door and a small head with bouncing yellow blonde hair peeked in.

"Um, hi Ellie-chan," he said, coming fully into the kitchen and closing the door behind him. "I'm Momiji Sohma by the way." Momiji didn't say anything and stared at his feet, swaying from one foot to another. I felt Shigure glance at me and then he spoke to Momiji.

"Come sit over here, Momiji," he said and beckoned slightly to him with his hand.

"O-Okay!" Momiji said and scurried over to the seat across from me. I studied him and noticed that he was the same height as me and we both had blonde hair. I guess we do look similar, like Shigure said.

"Momitchi, why don't tell Ellie-chan what she was like before she lost her memory?" Shigure suggested after neither Momiji nor I had said anything.

"Huh? Oh, okay!" Momiji said, now excited. "Well, for one thing I know you play lots of instruments! Hari told me it was 11, including your voice! I've heard you play your guitar and I've seen your violin. I play the violin too and before I suggested that we should do a duet!"

"I played instruments?" I asked in wonder. Momiji nodded his head so fast that I was afraid it was going to fall off.

"Yes, if I recall correctly, the instruments that you and Haa-san brought into the house were a guitar, violin, viola, flute, ryuteki, trumpet, English horn, clarinet, keyboard piano, and as Momiji said, your voice. Of course, you couldn't have _carried _that in because it's always with you," Shigure said with a smile.

"But's that only 9…" I said, counting off the instruments on my fingers.

"Oh yeah! Yesterday, after you went to the hospital, Hari told us about these two other instruments that were gonna take a lot of people to get back here, a grand piano and a set of drums. The set of drums was way easier than the piano though. Pianos are heavy!"

"Oh," I said, amazed that they had gone through so much trouble for my things. "Where are the instruments now?"

"The grand piano and the drums are in an extra room down here on the first floor, but the other smaller instruments are all up in your room," Shigure answered.

"My room? I live here?" I asked. Am I related to them? Hatori said my last name was Seeley and most of theirs is Sohma, except for that person named Tohru Honda. Um, maybe they're cousins. What if I'm an orphan and they're my adopted family? What happened to my parents then?

"Yep, you asked if you could stay here yesterday," Shigure explained.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. You mumbled a bunch of things about how your parents-well, more specifically, your dad and step mother if I remember correctly-had gone back to Britain because they thought you had been kidnapped by the same kidnappers from when you were 11 from some rival company of your father's. I think. Again, you were mumbling," Shigure explained again. What a strange story. Sounds suspicious. Then again, I told it, I guess. It sounds like I was lying. I wonder why.

"Oh, um, what else do you kn-" I started but was interrupted by a loud crash and yell from the other room, the one that Momiji came out of specifically. I let out a small yelp, but stifled it with my hand. Momiji ran into the next room and I followed him, ignoring Shigure's calls to stay in the kitchen.

When I walked into the room, I saw an orange haired boy and a purple haired boy fighting. A piercing pain shot through my head the instant I saw them throwing hits at each other. A similar scenario flashed through the inside of my eyelids, except that it was in a different room. I shook the image away and ignored the pain. Without really thinking about what I was doing, I stepped closer to the fight and observed the two for a moment. Then, I got irritated by their fighting. What if they hurt each other? They were yelling really loudly at each other too, and it was hurting my ears. I furrowed my eyebrows in annoyance and took in a deep breath.

"QUIT IT!" I screamed as loud as I could, and let me tell you, it sure got their attention real quick. Everyone's heads snapped to look at me. I don't think anyone had noticed I was even in the room until now. After everyone just stared at for a while, I huffed in annoyance. "Gosh, could you guys get any louder? You're only adding to my headache," I said and plopped down on the couch.

After some more silence, I looked up sheepishly at the two who had been fighting and asked, "So, um, what are your names?"

"Yuki," the purple haired one said simply. He seemed shocked by my outburst.

"Kyo" the orange haired one said. He seemed shocked too.

"And yours?" I asked, pointing at the white and black haired one, sitting with a blank face on an armchair.

"Hatsuharu. Haru for short," he responded.

"Good. Thanks," I said bluntly and left the room and entered the kitchen, where Shigure was still sitting at the table.

"So, um, what happened?" Shigure said. I think he already knew, though.

"Yuki and Kyo were fighting again." I said without thinking about it. I saw Shigure raise an eyebrow.

"Again?" he asked. Uh, oh. Should I tell him that I've seen a few flashbacks? Or should I keep that to myself?

"Huh? Oh yeah, well it just seems like they fight a lot based on the scene. Do they not?" I lied naturally. Did I lie often before?

"Oh. Well, you're right. It is normal for them. Anyway, would you like to speak to the others?" Shigure said, looking slightly suspicious but seemed to be brushing it off. Kyo and Yuki did just to appear to hate each at a glance after all.

"I suppose. I already know all their names. I asked them all before coming back in here," I said, a bit bored at this point. I laid my head down on the table.

"You could talk to the rest of them later if you want to," Shigure said as he watched me lie my head down on the table. "Ellie?"

I think he said more but by then I had already fallen asleep.

**A/N: Hello all! \(^w^)/ Tell me what you think of the chapter in the reviews please. ^-^ Thanks for reading! **


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